Short-weft fabric and method of making the same.



D. P. LUOIER. SHORT WEFT FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.APPLICATION FILED JAN.25, 1908.

Patented May 10, 1910.

ENE srar DAVID E. LUCIEB, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0JULIUS GARST, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOBT-WEFT FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID F. LUGIER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Worcester, in the county of WVorcester and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Short-lVeft Fabric andMethod of Making the Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a fabric made of short weft lengths such forexample as straw matting, grass and fiber carpets, and the like, and toa method of making the same.

Short weft fabrics have been made heretofore with several longitudinalselvage strands necessarily employed for the purpose of securely tyingthe ends of the weft.

' One of the'principal objects of this invention is to provide a form ofselvage in which the number of longitudinal selvage strands can bematerially reduced, thus decreasing the cost of the product. In order toaccomplish this, and at the same time to provide for securely tying theends of the iii-coming and out-going weft strands at the selvages, thefabric is made according to this invention with two longitudinal selvagestrands, an outer one and an inner one, the outer one being coarse, andthe inner one finer, but still preferably considerably coarser than thewarp.

Further objects of the invention are to provide an improved way of tyingboth ends of the weft strands into the selvages and in fact to provide adouble tie therefor located partly in the selvage and partly in the bodyof the fabric itself, and to provide an improved method of weaving sucha fabric and apparatus therefor.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings which show certainforms in which the invention may be embodied, and in which Figure l is aplan of a preferred form of the fabric showing the under or wrong sidethereof but the side which appears at the top as the fabric is produced011 the loom and Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are diagrammatic viewsshowing different steps in the process of making the selvage and tyingthe end of the weft into the fabric.

Referring to the drawings, this invention is shown as applied to themaking of a fabric comprising warp strands or threads at,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 25, 1908.

Patented May lit), 191W.

Serial No. 412,567.

two series of short length weft strands b b, and two kinds of selvagestrands c-0 on each edge. The outer longitudinal selvage strand 0 ispreferably formed of a coarse strong cord, and the inner selvage strand0 of a finer cord but preferably stronger than the warp. Next to thestrand 0 is the first warp strand (4. The strands 0c and a are placedquite close together for a purpose which will appear hereinafter. Thesecond warp strand a is spaced from the strand a almost as far as theordinary warp strands are spaced from each other, but the third warpstrand a is located close to the strand (4 and about as far from thestrand a as the distance between the warp threads in the fabric in orderto tie the weft as will appear later on. The warp and selvage strandsbeing located in the loom in the usual way, except for the abovementioned features, the weft b and b is introduced in any desired way toproduce the fabric.

The weft strands preferably, as is usual, are introduced alternatelyfrom the opposite edges. As is understood in this art the weft strandswhich are made of grass, straw, or the like, usually are soft at theirlower or butt ends and are comparatively hard and stiff at their upperends. Now in order to accomplish the desired results in this kind offabric, it is preferred to introduce the weft with their soft endsforward so that they may be bent around as will be describedhereinafter, without breaking them. Assuming now that one of the strandsZ) is introduced from the right in Fig. 1, when it reaches the edge ofthe fabric it is brought over the strand a under a over a, and underboth 0 and c. It is at this point that the softness of the end of thefabric comes into play, for here the strand is brought entirely aroundthe outer selvage strand 0 and back into the fabric under the strand 0.It is to be understood that in this description the fabric is consideredas it is made on the loom, but the upper side of the fabric as indicatedin this paragraph is the wrong or underside when it is in use. The freeend of this strand 6 is thus tied to the fabric, as indicated, andbrought out between the strands 0 and a where it is cut off as indicatedat the bottom of Fig. 1. At the top of this figure the strands areindicated as just woven before being beaten up by the lay. The oppositeedge of the fabric is not herein illustrated, as the opposite end of thestrand 1) will be exactly the same as this end of the strand 6 whichpasses under the selvage strand 0 over the strand 0 and then alternatelyunder and over the warp strands. This strand Z) is cut off 011 the rightside of the fabric between the strands c and 0, so that it does notproduce an unsightly appearance on the right side of the goods.

It will be observed that on account of the positions of the selvagestrands and the first three strands of the warp allthe weft is tied inthe fabric between the strands a and a and again between the strands 0and a, and in addition the alternatestrands which are bent over theouter strand of the selvage are again tied into the fabric between thestrands c and a. In this way a firm selvage is secured, the ends of thefabric being tied into the same without the use of the usual number ofselvage strands, the number employed being reduced to two. It may beconsidered that an additional warp strand (6 is introduced between thestrands a and a which are about the usual distance apart, but otherwisethere is nothing introduced to take the place of the additional selvagestrands which are usually employed, but the firmness of the selvage ispreserved as has been stated.

It will be understood that preferably the strands Z) and b are locatedalternately along the fabric, but they may be placed in any other orderif desired.

The method by which the end of the strand Z) is woven into the fabric inthis way will now be described, reference being had particularly toFigs. 2 to 7 inclusive. Then the weft I) has passed over the warp stranda it then passes under the strand 0 as shown in Fig. 2. At this time thestrand 0 is held by the leno needle 10 which controls it below theposition of the warp strand 6. Means is provided whereby the next stepis to raise the leno needle 10 as shown in Fig. 3 so as to bend the endof the strand 5 upwardly, then the needle 10 passes over the strand 0 tothe position shown in Fig. 4:. During this operation the reed needle 11which is supported by the lay and which controls the strand 0 movesforwardly with the lay as is indicated in Figs. 2, 3 and at to beat upthe strand 6 which has just been woven in. It then moves back with thelay to the position shown in Fig. 5, and leaves a shed through which anincoming strand Z) can be introduced. Then the leno needle 10 is raisedand brought outside the strand 0 first to the position shown in Fig. 6and then to the position shown in Fig. 7 where the next strand 6 isintroduced from the opposite side, the lay having beaten back andbrought the needle 11 to the position shown in Fig. 2.- It will be seen,therefore, that as the needle 11 beats back and forth with the lay, theneedle 10 starting from a position outside of and below the top of theneedle 11, moves upwardly over the top thereof and inside the same,while the latter is moving up to beat up the weft. This position isretained while the reed needle 11 beats back to the position shown inFig. 5, and then it commences to come up and out over the top thereof,then down into the position shown in Fig. 2 on the outside of the reedneedle while the latter is beating up a second weft strand. It thenremains in this position while the reed needle beats back with the lay,so that the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 2.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of theinvention, I am aware that it may be carried out in many other formsthan that shown without departing from the scope thereof as expressed inthe claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to details shown,butlVhat I do claim is 1. A fabric having a selvage comprising twolongitudinal strands or threads, and filling, certain strands of whichpass over the inner selvage strand and over and entirely around theouter selvage strand, the ends passing back over the inner selvagestrand, and under the body of the same filling strand.

2. A fabric having a sel *age comprising two longitudinal strands orthreads at the extreme edge thereof, a certain strand of which passesover the inner selvage strand,

over and entirely around the outer selvage strand, and back over theinner selvage strand, the free end being left on the under or wrong sideof the fabric between said inner selvage strand and the first warpstrand, said free end being cut off at this point.

3. A fabric having a selvage comprising two longitudinal strands orthreads at the extreme edge thereof, and filling, every alternate strandof which passes over the inner selvage strand and over and entirelyaround the outer selvage strand, the end passing back between the innerselvage strand and the body of said filling strand, and the remainder ofthe filling strands of which pass under the inner longitudinal selvagestrand and over the outer longitudinal selvage strand.

4. A fabric having aselvage consisting of two longitudinal strands orthreads at the edge beyond all the warp, and filling, every alternatestrand of which passes entirely around the outer selvage strand, andback between the inner selvage strand and the body of said fillingstrand, the free end being lefton the under or wrong side of the fabricbetween said inner selvage strand and the first warp strand, said freeend being cut off at this point, and the remainder of the fillingstrands of which pass under the inner longitudinal selvage strand andover the outer longitudinal selvage strand, and are cut off between thetwo longitudinal selvage strands on the right side of the fabric.

5. A fabric having a selvage comprising two longitudinal strands orthreads, and filling, every alternate strand of which passes around theouter selvage strand, and back over the inner selvage strand, and theremainder of the filling strands of which pass under the innerlongitudinal selvage strand and over the outer longitudinal selvagestrand, the first warp strand of the fabric being close to said innerlongitudinal selvage strand, and the second and third warp strands beingspaced therefrom but located close together, whereby the filling isfirmly held by said warp and selvage strands.

6. A fabric having a selvage comprising two longitudinal strands orthreads, and filling, every alternate strand of which passes around theouter selvage strand, and back over the inner selvage strand, saidfabric also having warp strands or threads, the first of which islocated adjacent to the inner longitudinal selvage strand, and thesecond and third of which are spaced therefrom and located closetogether.

7. A fabric having warp strands or threads, the second and third ofwhich from the edge are close together and provided with twolongitudinal selvage strands located near the first or outer warpstrand, the outer selvage strand being coarser than the otherlongitudinal strands of the fabric.

8. A fabric comprising warp strands or threads, selvage strands orthreads parallel with the warp, and transverse short wefts, eachextending across the fabric, said trans verse wefts having their softerends alternating at the opposite edges, said softer ends of the weftstrands passing outwardly under the two outer longitudinal strands onthe loom and being turned up around the outside of the outer selvagestrand and then down and back into the fabric.

9. A method of weaving fabrics which consists in providing a warp andtwo selvage threads or strands at the edge thereof, and introducingshort wefts alternately from the opposite edges with their soft endsforward, and bringing their forward soft ends outwardly around and underthe two outer selvage strands, and then up and back into the fabric overthe outer selvage strand and securing them therein under the second orinner selvage strand.

10. A method of making fabrics from short wefts which consists inproviding a warp and two selvage strands at the edge thereof,introducing short weft lengths therein, bringing the forward ends ofcertain of said weft lengths entirely around the outer selvage strand,and tying the same into the fabric by weaving said ends therein parallelwith the filling between the outer selvage strand and the first warpstrand on one side, and the inner selvage strand on the other side ofthe weft, and introducing every alternate weft strand from the oppositeend of the fabric so as to leave its projecting end on the opposite sideof the projecting end of the outer weft strand and between the outerselvage strand and the inner selvage strand.

11. A method of weaving which consists in providing an outer and aninner longitudinal selvage strand or thread, eontrol ling the outerstrand, independently controlling the inner strand, moving the outerstrand back and forth with the lay, and moving the inner strand over theouter strand first in one direction and then in the other leaving theentire inner strand parallel with the outer strand and alongside it, andweaving in the weft alternately above and below the inner strand.

12. A method of weaving which consists.

in providing an outer and an inner longitudinal selvage strand orthread, moving the outer strand back and forth with the lay, and movingthe inner strand over the outer strand first in one direction and thenin the other, while the lay beats up, and moving the inner strand downbelow the outer strand first on one side and then on the other while thelay beats back from the woven fabric leaving the entire inner strandparallel with the outer strand and alongside it, and weaving in the weftalternately above and below the inner strand.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

DAVID F. LUCIER.

lVitnesses R LOUIS W. SOUTHGATE, C. FORREST VVESSON.

